


The Monkey Boy: Tony Joins the Cirque

by reader1718



Category: No Fandom
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-08
Updated: 2015-01-08
Packaged: 2018-03-05 13:45:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,444
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3122390
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/reader1718/pseuds/reader1718





	The Monkey Boy: Tony Joins the Cirque

**The Monkey Boy: Tony Joins the Cirque**

Tony Wyzek was normal enough when he was born. The only thing that differentiated him from other boys was the fact that Tony had a tail. It was only a nub, but it was still a tail. At least a little nub like that wouldn’t attract attention as long as he kept it hidden beneath his clothes. Physical exams by doctors were the things his parents worried about the most because they presented the possibility that someone would see his tail. So they put forth certain conditions to prevent this, and things went well till Tony turned ten. At that point, Tony’s nub of a tail stopped being a nub and grew to full length. Now Tony had a full-fledged monkey tail. His parents were afraid he’d end up on some reality show if people found out, so they knew they had to find some way to protect him, but they didn’t know what they could do. Then one day an opportunity finally presented itself when Tony brought home a flier for something called the Cirque du Freak. The flier promised to entertain goers with a show of performers with various freaky abilities. To the Wyzeks it was a godsend. Finally Tony had a place to go where he could hide himself among people like him, if he could convince the head of the Cirque to let him join. So Tony’s parents bought him a ticket and let him go that night. Tony wrapped up his tail up in such a way that he could unwrap it when it came time to show it to the Cirque’s head ( whom he learned was named Mister Tall), but not have anyone else see it. After the Cirque’s show was over, Tony crept backstage, following the last performer, Larten Crepsley toward his office. What he didn’t expect was for Mr. Crepsley to disappear from in front of him and reappear behind him. “What are you doing here?” Mr. Crepsley asked him, grabbing his arm tightly. “Please, I need your help. I’m a freak just like the performers in your show, and I’m afraid that someone will find out about it and put me on display for people to gawk at. I don’t want that. Please, can I join the Cirque? I’ll do whatever you want me to do,” Tony begged Mr. Crepsley. “Whoa, whoa! First of all, it’s not up to me kid. It’s up to Mr. Tall, the man who introduces the acts. He’s the head of the Cirque. You’ll have to talk to him. Now then, you’re a freak? What is it about you that makes you a freak?” Mr. Crepsley asked. “I’m a monkey boy,” Tony explained. “So you have a monkey’s tail? May I see it?” Mr. Crepsley asked.

Tony unwound his tail and let it show to Mr. Crepsley, who gave it a tug to make sure it was real. Finally he took him to Mister Tall, who agreed to let Tony have a one week trial period at the Cirque to see if he could make it in the life they lived. After the period was over, Tony had proved himself and the members of the Cirque took a vote on whether he could stay or not. They voted unanimously to let him stay and Tony bedded down in a tent near the costume tent. He awoke the next morning to find a list of the day’s chores to be done. Tony went through them all without complaint and did them well, to the best of his ability. Each day was the same, but Tony didn’t mind because he felt right at home among the freaks. He worked each show staying behind the scenes and doing technical work. So no one knew of his existence outside the Cirque. At least they didn’t until the day Riff and the Jets found a flyer advertising the Cirque du Freak, and decided to attend a show.

Riff and the boys liked what they saw and wanted to see more of the freaks. So they sneaked behind the curtains of the Cirque tents and saw Tony among the freaks bringing a load of costumes to the costume tent. Tony handed them to Rebecca, then turned and when his gaze fell on his friends, it became one of shock. “Riff, what are you doing here? How did you even get back here? This place is for members of the Cirque only,” Tony said. “Then how do you explain what you’re doing here?” Riff asked. “I work here. That’s what I’m doing here,” Tony replied defiantly. “Why on earth would you want to work here?” Riff asked. “Maybe because I feel like I belong here or maybe it’s because I see value in hard work. It could even be because I asked to be here,” Tony said irritably.  “Why—” Riff started to ask, but just then a car pulled up in front of the Cirque followed by several forms streaking through the campground. Riff was confused by what was going on, but Tony made monkey noises that echoed across the camp. “Tony what—” Riff started to ask him, but Tony interrupted him. “Those guys are vampaneze, okay? Get in the costume trailer and stay there. Keep your heads down and stay out of sight. Vampaneze are very dangerous. If they catch you, they will kill you. The man in the car is Desmond Tiny. He claims to be neutral, but he’s been known to associate with vampaneze on a regular basis. He also tends to mess around with destiny and resurrects dead vampires as those little people you’ve seen running around the Cirque grounds. Don’t ask questions. Just trust me and do what I’m telling you,” Tony said tersely. Tony sounded so anxious that Riff for once did not ask any questions and immediately did what Tony said. They huddled together in the trailer with Riff not daring to breathe even for fear they’d be discovered. After what seemed like only moments, the door burst open and three vampaneze flitted in. Tony and the others tried to fight back and take them out, with Tony even attempting to lasso one with his tail. Rebecca climbed up and kicked one in the crotch, making him double over with pain, while Evra managed to poke one of them’s eyes out. Of course by that point, Riff had seen Tony’s tail and knew what he was. He realized Tony was a freak just like all the others. That explained why he had joined the Cirque. He probably felt more at home here than he had other places.

Finally the vampaneze turned to leave, but one of them said as he left “Tell the little vampire it’s time to come home.” “What exactly did he mean by that?” Riff asked. “I think he meant Darren should come to see him, but I’m not sure about the ‘home’ part,” Tony said. “I think I do. I think he means Darren’s house,” Evra said. “Of course! Why didn’t I think of that? We’d better warn Mister Crepsley ASAP!” Tony said. He rushed off to tell Mister Crepsley where Darren had probably gone only to find the vampire already gone. Now there was nothing they could do, but sit and wait, which Tony had never been good at doing to begin with. Finally, though, Darren and Crepsley returned to the Cirque and told the story of what had happened after Crepsley had left the Cirque. Tony and Rebbecca along with the others were praised for keeping order during the vampaneze invasion. They were awarded a contract as a high wire act called The Flying Monkeys and would perform at the Cirque’s next show. Riff and the others became frequent visitors to the Cirque whenever it performed nearby in hopes of seeing their friend when they visited. On one visit, Riff and the boys went back to the campground to see Tony as usual, not noticing that they were being followed by Bernardo. When they got to where Tony was finishing changing out of his costume, Bernardo discovered Tony was one of the Cirque’s freaks and was going to go tell everyone. However Tony made a very persuasive speech that convinced Bernardo not to tell. Tony lived the rest of his life with the Cirque, enjoying it immensely. He eventually fell in love with another freak the Cirque eventually took on and they married. Eventually they had kids of their own who were freaks just like their parents, so they joined the Cirque as well and the Cirque du Freak continued to grow in numbers for generations afterward.


End file.
